Mexico weekly ledger., 1887-10-13
DR.. TAlmage's Fiest Cigar.

The time had come IN my boyhood
which ! thought demanded Of ME q
capacity to smoke. The old people Of
the household could neither abide the
sight nor the smell of the Virgins
weed. When ministers came there.
not by positive injunction, but by q
sort of instinct as to what would. be
safest, they whitfield their pipes on the
back steps. Ii the house could not
stand sanctified smoke. it may be i'm.
sgined how little chance there waa for
adoiescent cigar-pufing.
BY some rare good fortune which
put in my hands three cents, I found
arcess to atobacco store. As the lid Of
the long, narrow, fragrant box opened,
and for the first time l owned a cigar,
my feelings OF citation, manliness, su.
perierity and anticipation can scarcely
be imagined, a oy those who have
had the same sensation. When I put
the cigar to my lips. and stuck the
iucifer match to the end Of the weed,
and commenced to pull with an en-.
ergy that brought every facial muscle
to its utmost tension, my satisfaction
with this world was so great my tempt
alton was never to wan to leave it.
The cigar did not burn well. It re-
quired an amount of suction that
tasked my determination to the ut.
most. You see that my worldly mes ms
had limited me to a quality which cost
only three cents. But / had been
taught that nothing great was eve,
accomplished without an effort. and SO
! pulled away. Indeed. l had heard
my older brothers In their Latin lessons
cay. onsaia vsncst labor, which trans
lated means, If you want to make
anything go you must scratch for it.
With these sentiments, / passed
down through the village street, and
out toward my co untry home. My
head did not feel exactly right, and
The street began to rock from side to
side, SO that it became rather uncer.
tain to me which side If the street
~aa on. So l crossed over, but found
my self or the same side I was on be-
fore l crossed over. Indeed, I inag-
tred that l was on both sides at the
same time, and several fast teams were
driving between. ! met another boy,
who asked me why I looked SO rale,
and l told him that / did not lool
pale, but that he was pale himself
After some further walking l sat dowr
under the bridge near my house and
began to reflect on the prospect O!
early decease, and on the uncertaint,
Of all earthly expectations. / had. de
:ermined to smoke the cigar all up
and thus get the full worth of m,
money, but was finally obliged to throw
:~hree-fourths of it away. l knew
however, exactly where I threw it, /,
case I should feel better the nex,
day.
Getting home, the old people wer,
frightened, and demanded of mo al
explanstion as to M absence and tn,
rather whitisb color of my complex
ion. Not feeling that l was cs.llet
upon to go into particulars, and no
wishing to increase my parents appre
hension that l was going to turn Oh
badly, / summed up the case with tn,
statement that / felt miserable al tn,
pit of my stomach. Mustard plaster
were Immediately administered, and
received careful watching for som
hours. Finally l fell asleep. and for
got my humiliation and disappoint
ment in being obliged to throw aWay
.~hree-fuurths of my first cigar.-7. q
W.T. Tatmage ia Brookly" Magazin.